Assassin’s Creed: Liberation features heroine with different personas (preview)

The Assassin’s Creed series first foray onto portable systems wasn’t pretty. The problem was that the PlayStation Portable couldn’t handle the open-world gameplay, not mention the fact that it lacked the visual fireworks that the series is known for. And that was a shame because Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines told a pivotal story in the series. It made sense of the Altair flashback in Assassin’s Creed II.

But the franchise’s second attempt on a handheld system looks as though it’s light years better. I had a chance to check out Assassin’s Creed: Liberation, which is coming out Oct. 30 on the PlayStation Vita, at a Ubisoft pre-Gamescom event. From the initial look, the game seems to be a legit entry to the series complete with a new protagonist named Aveline de Grandpre.

She is the daughter of a French merchant who married one of his slaves. The union led to her mother’s freedom and of course hers. It’s an unusual backstory for a heroine and it comes into play in a unique aspect of the game.

Being an aristocrat has its advantages in the game. Aveline can bribe her way into several places.

DIFFERENT PERSONAS: Because of her multicultural and societal background, Aveline has access to different personas. Think of them as alter-egos that each have their own special abilities and powers. To demonstrate the concept, the demo I saw showed Aveline tackle a mission three different ways. She was tasked with hunting down a mark in a heavily guarded part of New Orleans.

As an assassin, she can easily just skirt the guards, run on the rooftops and use her eagle vision to identify her target and eliminate him. It’ll cause an alarm and she’ll have to flee a ton of guards, but it’s doable.

But there is an alternative. Aveline can go in as an aristocratic daughter of a merchant, which she is. She can easily bribe the guards at the front gate using the in-game money she earns. While inside, Aveline can charm guards who are alone so they follow her. That can throw off a patrol route or it can fool other guards and make them believe she’s being escorted. (Think of it as the courtesans in reverse.)

If she spots a guard alone, she can take them out by herself via hidden blade or fists. For a more covert action, Aveline can a use the blow dart gun hidden in her parasol to poison a guard. If they’re in a group, that same move can cause a commotion so she can slip by.

As an aristocrat, citizens will react differently to her. The wealthier people will say hello. She can access several parts of city. Although being a society woman does have advantages, it also has the weakest armor meaning Aveline’s health is low in that mode. She also doesn’t have access to a wide range of her assassin moves. She can’t jump onto buildings or leap between them. It’d be hard to do that in a dress. But she does gain access to economic missions for her father and that helps fatten her purse for those bribes.

For some reason, this screenshot reminds me of Pocahontas.

TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS: The third persona is the worker. It’s a happy medium between the assassin and society woman. It involves some stealth and some fighting. To get past the guards as a worker, players can just grab a crate and pretend that they’re doing work inside the walls. She’ll get waved through.

Once in, she’ll have to keep track of foes and sometimes hide out among the other servants sweeping the floors and such. Aveline does get into the act and she does pretend to do work while guards pass by. That’s a nice touch instead of just standing around.

As a worker, Aveline can gain access to the rooftops and do most things that her assassin persona can do. She can also wield assassin weapons like the whip though her health is still slightly lower.

But the big thing that a worker can do is gain the trust of the lower class. Laboring with the people, Aveline can ask for help from the population. She can incite them to cause a miniriot and in the commotion, she can get away or find a path to her target.

In all these missions, once the assassination is made, our heroine has to get out of Dodge quickly. She can escape through the rooftops or use the other aforementioned ways. But one good way to do it is to change outfits and take on another persona. Lastly, each of these alter-egos that Aveline takes on has its own separate notoriety and she’ll have to make sure that each one is taken care of.

EXTRA TIDBITS

SO WHEN DOES THIS TAKE PLACE?: From what I saw, the mission took place in 1771 in New Orleans. Ubisoft says parts of it take place in other parts of North America like Mexico. Assassin’s Creed: Liberation is supposed to offer a different perspective of America at the time. That’s definitely true coming from a place that was once owned by Spain and France. It’s also confirmed that Aveline will meet Connor Kenway. Their paths do cross.

Gieson Cacho

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